You Don't Have To Be Lonely
by thesentimentalist
Summary: Dean and Sam Winchester find themselves in yet another apocalypse, this time stationed in sunny LA, California, where they meet up with Angel and his team. The newest addition of the team, Laken, is the current slayer who catches the eye of one of the Winchester brothers. Together with Dean and Sam, Angel's team are destined to save the world... again. Dean/OC Pairing
1. Chapter 1

__I don't own any of these characters except for Laken, who is my original character.

I am working on this fanfic that is a cross between Supernatural and Angel. As I mentioned, I have created a new character, Laken, who will play Dean's love interest, and who is also the new slayer. Throughout these first few chapters, I explain the new slayer and how that works into the characters from Angel as well as Supernatural.

I hope you enjoy this, and know that I am working hard on keeping the characters true to their TV personas. Reviews are always appreciated.

_I see problems down the line  
I know that I'm right  
I see darkness down the line  
I know its hard to fight.  
There was a dirt upon your hands  
doing the same mistake twice  
making the same mistake twice._

-"Down the Line" by Jose Gonzale

Dean and Sam were making their way to a small town in California that had a large vamp infestation when Dean's other other phone rang. "Yeah?"

"Dean, I'm going to need you to redirect your route slightly and head toward LA," Garth said, his eyes glued to his computer screen. "According to the GPS in your phone, you just need to head west for about 30 miles and you'll be there."

Dean shot Sam a confused and rather annoyed look at Garth's new method of hunting, no matter how brilliant it was. "LA? Any reason in particular?"

"A source tells me that there was an extraordinary amount of supernatural activity. While you were… away before, a law firm by the name of Wolfram Heart, exploded. There was a huge disturbance of supernatural beings, from vamps to dragons. There were some survivors, deemed heroes."

"That sounds great and all, but what does that have to do with us now?"

"That's what I'm getting to Dean, you idgit."

Dean grunted at the remark, but continued to listen, all the while Sam was curious about what was going on.

"There is another disturbance there."

"Can't those _heroes_ take care of it?"

"I'm afraid it's bigger than them. From what I'm told, they have worked with a young women who has direct blood connections to a demon for quite some time."

"She sounds like Sammy's type. Maybe we should skip this one."

"If you do, there may be no other hunt to skip. This is the apocalypse."

"Again?"

"No, Dean, this is _the_ apocalypse."

Dean rolled his eyes as he made a sharp U-Turn to head west. "What's so different about this one?"

"According to the prophecies, only one person is responsible for the apocalypse, and it's just going to take two actions."

"Who is this lucky guy? And what two actions?"

"I'm still deciphering on both accounts. Kevin is on it."

"Oh, so it's on the tablet."

"Ding, ding, we have a winner."

"Alright, Garth. Send Sam the rest of the information that you have. We're heading to LA now."

Dean hung up his phone as he looked at his clueless brother in the passenger's seat of the Impala. "Looks like we have another apocalypse on our hands."

"Did we cause it this time?"

Dean chuckled to himself. "No. Apparently one guy brings the world to the end."

"How sure is Garth that one of us isn't involved?"

"I didn't think to ask, but what's the odds that we'll cause this one?"

Sam chuckled as well. "Hey, what did you mean earlier when you said that 'she sounds like Sammy's type'?"

Dean laughed out loud as he slapped his kid brother on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Sammy."

Within the hour, Dean and Sam had arrived in Los Angeles, California. Both men were hungry and needed a break from the nine-hour car ride that they had just endured. "How does pizza sound?" Dean asked his brother as they pulled into the parking lot of a mom and pop pizza joint.

"I doubt they'll have hamburgers here."

Once inside, the two were sat by the hostess who assured them that their server would be with them in a few moments. "Aha!" Dean exclaimed as he looked down at the menu.

"What?" Sam asked.

"They have a cheese burger pizza."

Sam looked down at the menu, almost not believing Dean. "That's… different."

"We gotta' try it."

"You do that, I think I'm going to try this Rocka Salad."

Dean shook his head as he looked around the room. "Where is our waitress?" He asked, growing impatient.

"Hello," a girl in her early twenties greeted as she sat down a beverage napkin in front of each of them. "My name is Laken, and I'm going to be taking care of you. Can I get you two started with something to drink?" She said this for what felt like the millionth time in her lifetime. Her honey colored eyes, though enchanting, were sad and thoughtful, a characteristic which seemed to plague her elegantly classic facial structure.

"Two Budweiser's," Dean answered.

"Sure thing. Can I see some id please?"

Dean cleared his throat, as he reached for his wallet somewhat surprised. "Not you, sir," she said to Dean. "But yours, I do need to see," she said looking at Sam.

Sam grinned from ear to ear as he pulled his id out from his wallet. He handed it to her. Once she confirmed he was of age, she handed Sam, or rather, Miles Digg, back his driver's license. "Thank you. I'll be right back with those drinks."

Sam put the id back into his wallet, still grinning at Dean. "Feel old yet?"

"Shut up, being in hells wears on the person."

"I was in hell too," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, for like an hour before Cas saved your ass."

The two brothers exchanged looks before both slightly smiling. Sam was glad that him and Dean could joke about something so horrible with one another. Sam had finally won Dean's trust back, and that was something that he needed if they were going to survive yet another apocalypse.

"Here ya go," Laken said as she placed the bottles of beer down. "Did you get a chance to look over the menu?"

"Uh, yeah," Dean said rather coldly, still stung by the id incident. "I'll take the Cow's Meow," he said referring to the hamburger pizza.

"What size?"

"Hell, make it a large," he said with a flashy smile.

Laken nodded, not amused by his overall demeanor. "And you?"

"I'll take the Rocka Salad, please."

"Would you like steak or grilled tofu?"

"How is the grilled tofu?"

"Really good," Laken replied as Dean laughed at his brother's choice of food.

Sam shot him a look, which made Dean shrug his shoulders. "I'll try it."

Laken smiled as she wrote his order down in her server pad. "The balsamic dressing is really good with it."

"Sounds great," Sam smiled.

"Alright, guys, it'll be right up."

"Tofu?" Dean asked after Laken had walked away.

"The Cow's Meow?" Sam challenged.

"What? It's American."

Sam nodded as he pulled out his computer. "Great, they have wi-fi here."

Dean leaned back in his chair and drank on his beer. "Awesome," he said rather sarcastically

"Don't tell me that you're in a bad mood now because the waitress didn't ask to see your id."

"No, that would be stupid."

Before Sam had a chance to continue the present conversation, he noticed that Garth had sent him an email. "Wow," he said reading it.

"What?"

"Apparently those heroes, as Garth called them, aren't human. Well one is, technically; his name is Charles Gunn. Two of them are vampires with a soul, Angel and Spike. The other is an ancient demon wearing a dead scientist's body."

"What the hell?" Dean was officially intrigued, and the not so insult of the waitress didn't bother him any longer. "That doesn't make sense. Two vamps and a demon working to save the world? Soul or not, that's just weird. And how exactly do those fangers have souls?"

"Garth isn't sure. But apparently Bobby knew them, or at least of them. He thought of them as allies if we needed some back up."

Dean seemed to settle down after that. "Do they know we're coming?"

"Garth was contacted by Gunn, who apparently was weary to tell the others of our involvement. He thinks it'll be better if we just show up."

Dean sighed before drinking the rest of his beer. "Where is this girl?" As he was saying that, a server walked by. "Miss," he called out to her.

The young woman turned around. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, another beer please."

"Dean, she isn't our waitress."

"It's fine," the girl said with a fake smile. "I'll let your server know you need something."

Moments later, Laken appeared at the Winchester's table with two new beers. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No, thank you," Sam said.

When she had walked away, Dean asked, "What's with her?"

"She's a waitress, dude. Can you even imagine how much that has to suck, how much she gets hit on by douche bags?"

"Sounds like you know from experience, Sammy," Dean joked before he took a swig of his beer.

Sam looked back at his laptop screen. "Well I kind of do." He didn't want to look over the screen to see Dean peering at him. "I worked the bar while you were gone."

Dean slapped his leg. "That is too rich, man." He paused. "So how many douche bags hit on you?"

Luckily, Laken had approached their table with the food. She sat down their meals, next to the plates and silverware she had dropped off with their second round of beers. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No, we're good. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Y'all enjoy."

Sam watched as she walked to the table next to theirs, and Dean, picking up on the vibes said, "She's not giving you the sex eyes, Sammy."

Sam, slightly embarrassed, looked at his brother. "What?"

"I'd still go for it, if I were you. We may be in town for a while, maybe you could date her or whatever. She seems like your type." Dean paused as he smiled. "Maybe she's the demonic chick we're looking for," he said with a laugh.

"Just eat. I'm ready to crash."

The two began to enjoy their meal, both happening to look over at the table next to them were Laken was taking a group of men's orders. "So tell me, sweetie. Who should I call, your daddy or your boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?"

"To get your old man's permission to dance for us, who should I call? Is it your daddy or your boyfriend?" He repeated as he grabbed Laken's ass.

"See," Sam said to Dean as he motioned with his thumb towards the inappropriate man, but Dean was already watching. "What did I tell you?"

Laken leaned over to the table directly in front of the group of men. "May I borrow this?" She asked an older woman, referring to her cup of coffee. Without waiting for a reply, Laken poured the scorching hot coffee in the man's lap.

"You fucking bitch!" He yelled getting to his feet. Sam and Dean, out of reflex, had stood up as well. The man lunged forward in trying to grab Laken. Dean and Sam couldn't tell if it was the drunkenness of the man who allowed what happened next, or if Laken was just that fast. As the man's fist came towards her face, Laken grabbed his arm and twisted it until the man was on his knees screaming in pain.

Watching from the bar, the bartender hopped over the counter and ran to the scene. "Laken, are you ok?"

She nodded releasing the man's grip. "Perfectly fine."

The bartender pulled the man to his feet from the collar of his shirt. "It's time for you to leave," he said to him and his friends.

The man, too embarrassed to say anything, left without much of anything, his friends following. The bartender settled the crowd and ensured that Laken was truly ok, which she was. Both Winchester boys were impressed with how their waitress reacted to the douchebagness of the man. In fact, both found her actions to be insanely hot.

"That was insanely hot," Dean stated.

"Yeah it was," Sam agreed.

"I'll be right back with another cup of coffee, " Laken said to the older woman, who the coffee had belonged to.

Sam and Dean were finishing up their food when Laken returned to their table. "Can I get you anything else? Another round of beer?"

"No, I think we're good," Dean said.

"Just the check then?"

"Yes, please," Sam chimed in.

Laken brought out a box for the rest of Dean's pizza. Before Dean could object, Laken was already packing the pizza away for him. "Cold pizza makes for a good breakfast, or a snack in the middle of the night after some rather strenuous activity."

Dean could feel his heart rate speed up slightly. "Strenuous activity, hm?"

Laken nodded as she took their dirty dishes from in front of them. "I don't get off until two, so that's about the middle of the night, wouldn't you say?"

"I would say," Dean replied feeling overly confident in his ability to take women home with him.

"I try to do a yoga session when I get off work, which can be pretty strenuous sometimes. And pizza is usually my go to snack after that."

Dean's smile faded as Sam's face lit up. She had just toyed with Dean Winchester, something many women can't seem to do.

"I'll be right back with that check."

"Don't say anything," Dean ordered his younger brother.

Sam threw his arms up in defense, playing innocent.

Dean, no matter how badly he was toyed with, couldn't help but to follow Laken with his eyes. A young man, around the same age as Laken walked up to her, who appeared to be a customer. "Excuse, me, miss."

"Yes?"

"I was in the bathroom and there was blood everywhere. There was this man, he was… drinking it."

"What?" Laken exclaimed in a high shriek.

"Did you hear that Sammy?" Dean asked.

"I sure did."


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

_Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole  
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound  
But while you debate, half empty or half full  
It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown  
-"Marching Bands of Manhattan" by Death Cab For Cutie_

Sammy laid a few bills on the table before the two brothers rushed out of the room to find the men's restroom where they believed a vampire was feasting on innocent people. The building was rather unusual, for there were several stories, all of which were different businesses, making the bathroom difficult to find.

"Here's the men's bathroom."

Dean joined Sam, armed with a pistol and Sam had the demon-killing dagger. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Dean opened the door and led, Sam right behind him. Once they entered the room, it was paramount that there hadn't been any blood in the facility. "Maybe we have the wrong bathroom?"

"Or maybe you both are just extremely gullible?"

The men turned around to see Laken standing in front of them, blocking the entrance, which was also the exit. "Laken?" Sam said questionably.

"Wow, you actually remembered my name. Not many customers care to do that," she said honestly before coming closer to them. "Just so you know, I'm not usually in the business of killing people, but apparently one of you will play a role in the apocalypse. And well, honestly, I am tired of saving the world at the last minute. I guess you can say I'm a bit of a procrastinator. But I've learned my lesson, hence why I'm going to kill you now before you can fulfill the prophecy."

"I knew it was one of us," Sam said dryly.

"Wait, so that means you're the check with the demon blood?"

"Is that what hunters are calling slayers these days?" She questioned out loud. "But yeah, that would be me."

"Told you she was your type," Dean said to Sam, who could only shrug. He then looked at Laken. "So you're going to kill us?"

"Like I said, I hate it, but you know, kill two for the lives of billions. You do the math."

"There is just one problem with that, princess," Dean pointed out. "There is one of you and two of us. And don't get me wrong, you sure showed that jackass in there who's boss, but we're not your common Joe."

"Compared to me, you are, honey."

Dean chuckled. "I doubt that."

"Have you ever fought a slayer before?"

"Never even heard of one before today," Sam admitted.

"Oh. Well I hate expectations anyway."

"Well, princess, I have to tell you, if we at least knew what you were, it may have us shaking in our boots," Dean said jokingly.

"So you want to know what the slayer is?"

Dean shrugged.

"Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer."

"See, Laken, that's where you have it wrong. We aren't evil. We don't have to do this," Sam said, trying to avoid a fight that he knew would end with this girl's death.

"It's not personal, guys. I am sorry," she said and the two brothers knew that she meant it. "I just can't go through another apocalypse." There it was, in her eyes. She looked tired, not just because lack of sleep, but from lack of being able to be a carefree individual that she yearned to be. Dean and Sam could tell that she too was a slave to humanity and they could relate.

"There has to be another way," Sam said. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Oh, Sam. I'm not the one who is going to be getting hurt." And with that, she lunged at Dean and removed his pistol from his hands before sliding it across the floor. She punched him under his chin, sending him flying into the wall behind him.

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed.

Laken charged at Sam and in a swift movement backhanded him before she elbowed him in his nose, making him kneel over in pain, blood squirting from his face.

Dean had snuck up behind her, or so he thought and kicked her. But to his dismay, she grabbed his foot and spun him by it until he hit the floor again. This time, Dean was on his feet faster than Laken thought possible for a mere man. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve as well, princess." Dean got a few punches in before she grabbed his fist and punched him with her other hand.

She punched Dean in the lip. "Don't call me that."

Being distracted by Dean, Sam was able to grab Laken by her waist and drop her on to the floor, putting his dagger to her neck.

"Do it," she said, and Sam couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

"Stop!" The same young man who had told Laken about the blood in the bathroom shouted.

Dean looked at him, while Sam was still too focused on Laken. "Get out of here, man. This doesn't have anything to do with you."

The young man walked pass Dean and when Dean grabbed his arm, he turned and punched Dean in the stomach, sending him yet again flying across the room.

When Sam turned to look, Laken pushed him away from her so she could safely get to her feet. "Connor, what are you doing?"

"Illyria misread the text. They don't cause the apocalypse. They help prevent it."

Laken wiped the blood away from her bottom lip. "Seriously? We should really find someone else to do the whole book thing." She looked at the two men who were standing before her, both with blood trickling from random areas of their faces. "Sorry about that. It's hard to find good help these days, you know being the end of days and all."

Connor wiped some of Laken's blood with the end of his sleeve. "You're hurt."

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "You guys will too. Connor will explain."

"Where are you going?" Connor asked.

"I have to get back to work."

"Hold up, princess," Dean barked. "You almost killed us."

"Exactly, _almost_. You live to fight another day," she said dryly as she took several paper towels out of the dispenser and ran them under the water.

"As far as I'm concerned-" Dean began as he started to approach her.

Connor stood in front of him, preventing him from getting close to Laken and cut him off, "Laken is not of your concern right now. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we have bigger matters on our hands."

Sam placed a calming hand on Dean's shoulder. "He's right. If Garth and him are talking about the same apocalypse, we are staring down the barrel of the mother gun of all apocalypses. We could use all the help that we can get."

"How do we know you won't try to pull another stunt like this again?" Dean demanded.

"We aren't the bad guys," Connor stated. "We just had some misguided information."

Laken finished rubbing the blood off her face. "I'll see you in a couple hours, Connor."

"Don't you think you should call it a night?" He asked her.

"I'm fine. They barely got a scratch on me. I'll see you at home." And with that, Laken shoved past Dean and Sam to the door.

"We should go."

"Where?" Sam wondered out loud.

"We have a hotel."

"A hotel?" Dean asked confused.

"Yes. It's our head quarters. I'll ride with you."

"We need to stop and get a motel room first."

"Dean is it?" Connor asked.

"Yeah."

"You won't need a motel room. Unless you're scared Laken will kick your asses again."

"Listen-" Dean began.

Connor laughed. "We need to go. The others will be waiting on us."

Sam picked up his backpack before he followed Dean and Connor out the door. He took out his cell phone to call Garth to confirm this Connor character and make sure they weren't walking into another trap. Garth explained the situation to Sam, which was that Gunn was unaware of the reading the demon, Illyria, that was wearing scientist's body did. At the time the team made the arrangement to kill Sam and Dean before they could have a chance to bring the world to a fiery end. Angel, however, insisted that Illyria reread the ancient text to ensure that her reading was accurate when she discovered her mistake.

She insisted that it was, "The context of ancient times when mixed with modern language," trying to relieve herself from all blame.

Dean and Sam walked through the restaurant behind Connor as he led them outside. Dean turned back to see the woman who almost killed him and his brother. She was standing at a table, pointing something out on the to a customer. He wasn't sure if it was still the adrenaline pumping through his veins from the recent fight, but he thought he saw into her; he thought she was happier than she had been earlier in the night.

"So this is your car?" Connor asked as they reached the Impala.

"How did you know?" Sam asked.

"We did some research on you guys."

"That's not creepy," Dean muttered as he got into the driver's seat. Sam took his usual place in the passenger side, which left Connor to the backseat. Dean started the car, and asked Connor which direction.

Once the directions were explained, Sam asked Connor, "How did we not know about Laken? About slayers?"

"I would imagine it would have been because of the Watchers Council. They kept everything about slayers confidential along with assigning each slayer with a watcher who will train and support his or her slayer."

Sam looked back at Connor. "How many slayers are there?"

"Just one per generation."

"Oh that's what she was going on about back there," Dean said.

"What happens if she dies?"

"You mean when she dies," Connor said dryly. "Slayers have a life expectancy of a moth. So there are hundreds, even thousands of potentials throughout the world who have the capabilities to take her place."

"So all these girls, they have the same abilities as Laken?"

"Not active abilities. They have dreams about past slayers, but there abilities have to be awaken when the slayer in front of line of destiny dies."

Dean and Sam were finding this hard to wrap their heads around. They were shocked that they didn't know about these supernatural women who fought the powers of evil.

"It's just Laken then?" Dean asked.

Connor leaned back and sighed, wondering if he should even be telling them about this. He knew that they were the key to keep the ultimate evil from rising, so he figured the more they knew the better. "Actually, no. There's two slayers."

"How?" Dean demanded to know.

"Laken died. Went to hell dimension, actually to fight a demon, to prevent an apocalypse, actually." Dean and Sam exchanged looks, which Connor noticed. "I believe you guys are familiar with hell?"

Ignoring the question Sam asked, "How did she get out?"

"Angel."

"Angel, this vamp with a soul?" Dean questioned.

Connor shook his head, "No, an actual angel by the name of Castiel."

"Castiel?" Dean and Sam exclaimed in unison.

"Cas!" Dean yelled. "Do you have your ears on?"

Within seconds, Connor was sharing the backseat of the Impala with the angel. "Yes, Dean?"

"What is this we're hearing about you saving a slayer from hell?"

"Which one?"

"Which one? You saved more than one?" Sam asked as he looked back at him.

"Yes, two to be exact. The first was Buffy Summers and more recently was Laken Johnson. Why do you ask?"

"Oh I don't know, Cas, maybe because Laken just tried to kill us!" Dean yelled.

"Misunderstanding, I'm sure," Cas assured and then looked at Connor. "Connor, it's been a while."

"It sure has."

"How is Angel?"

"Oh you know, mopey."

Cas nodded. "That's Angel all right." He paused for a moment. "I have to go." And the end of the word "go," Cas vanished.

A few seconds later, Dean pulled into the parking area of the Hyperion Hotel on 1481 Hyperion Avenue. Sam looked out the window to see the massive five-story building, oozing with the history of Los Angeles.

"This is home," Connor said getting out of the car once it had stopped. "No killing the vampires or Illyria. Garth did tell you about that, right?"

"The two vamps with souls? Yeah," Dean answered. "I don't like it, Sammy."

Sam grabbed his book bag and sighed. "Let's just save the world again."

"After this, we need to go on a vacation," Dean muttered closing the car door and joining Connor and Sam as they walked toward the entrance.

Connor opened the door and the two brothers stood in awe at the hotel. "Come on. I'll get Angel."

Dean and Sam walked to the front desk where Illyria stood, in Winifred Burkle's body. The small frame and cheery disposition of the being didn't even register as Illyria. "Well hiya," she greeted in her country dialect.

"Hi, I'm Sam."

"I'm Winifred, but everyone calls me Fred."

A bleached blonde man walked in, wearing all black. "No one calls you Fred, Illyria. Play nice."

Illyria frowned and turned back to her normal self, though she still appeared as Fred, but with blue strands in her hair, a blue coloring around her face, and of course the tight leather outfit that covered her body from the collarbone down.

"So you're the demon wearing this poor girl," Dean said through hissed teeth.

"Easy there, Chuck Norris. Illyria here, is part of the team."

"And you're?"

"I'm Spike."

"Talk about a ridiculous name."

Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder. "I'm Sam and this is Dean."

"I figured as much."

Then a tall man walked into the room. "Dean, Sam? I'm Gunn."

Sam extended his hand to shake Gunn's. "Nice to meet you."

"Like wise."

"You must be Angel," Dean said when he saw another man walk in, also wearing all black.

"Yeah. Thank you guys for coming here. We are sorry for the misunderstanding earlier."

"No harm no foul," Sam said.

"I am just curious, though," Dean began. "Do you get your rocks off sending your slayer to kill humans?"

Angel looked at Dean with remorse. "I cannot tell you how sorry we are for that."

Gunn joined in, "Yeah, man, we feel awful for it."

"Are we going to stand here all night like pansies or are we going to start making plans to save the world?" Spike blurted.

"What's up with Billy Idol?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"Like I've never heard that before," Spike said chuckling.

"Spike's right," Gunn began. "We need to get a plan."

"Kind of hard without the slayer here," Dean pointed out.

Angel rubbed the back of his head. "I know. Connor was supposed to bring her back."

Connor cracked a grin. "You go get her, then dad."

Sam and Dean exchanged looks, wondering how a vampire as old as Angel could have a son as young as Connor. Gunn, seeing their confusion promised to fill them in.

"I don't get it, are you guys scared of her?" Dean questioned.

"No," Angel said. "She just very strong willed."

"You mean she doesn't do a damn thing you say," Spike clarified. "And you being her watcher and all, that must suck."

"Spike," Angel growled.

"I'm gone for a few hours and you guys start fighting again?" Laken asked as she walked into the room holding two pizza boxes.

"You're off?" Connor asked happily.

She nodded as she sat down the boxes. "Yeah, one of the severs owed me a favor for saving her life, so she's going to close for me." Laken looked at Dean. "You forgot your pizza."

"Oh, thanks. Maybe I'll eat it after some strenuous exercise."

Laken ignored his remark, which made Sam laugh. "Speaking of which, I'm going to go patrolling."

"Patrolling?" Both Sam and Dean asked.

"Yeah. The slaying of the vampires in graveyards."

"Alright, Laken. Be careful," Angel warned.

"I'll go with," Connor offered.

"No, Connor. We need you here to help with research."

"I'll go," Dean said. "I'm not much into research."

Laken let out a small laugh. "I don't need a babysitter, especially one that I'll have to protect."

"What are you talking about? I can hold my own. I got a few good licks in earlier."

"You better watch it," Connor hissed.

Laken shot Connor a look and then looked at Dean. "Fine. Safer in numbers and all that."

"You okay Sammy?"

Sam grinned. "Yes. It looks like they have some books that I haven't seen before."

"Nerd."

"Jerk."

The two brothers exchanged smiles before Dean followed Laken out the door. "Don't slow me down," she warned.

"You don't have to worry about that," Dean promised.


	3. Chapter 3

****This is the third chapter of my story. I don't own the characters from Supernatural or Angel. While the story is mainly original, I do include actual story lines and quotes from the characters. I hope you enjoy, and reviews are always welcomed!

**CHAPTER THREE **

_I wonder if you'd miss me  
When I'm gone  
It's come to this, release me  
I'll leave before the dawn  
But for tonight I'll stay here with you  
Yes, for tonight I'll lay here with you  
-"What If You" by Joshua Radin_

Laken and Dean rounded the corner to the first cemetery that they were going to be patrolling. "Why did you want to come with me?"

"Well, princess, it didn't have much to do with you. I just get a little stir crazy doing research. I'm more of a hands on kind of guy."

"Right," Laken said slowly. "And stop calling me princess." Before Dean had a chance to say anything back, Laken pushed Dean aside as a vampire lunged toward them. Laken kicked the vampire in the stomach sending him into the air, only stopping once he collided into a headstone. Laken rushed to the vampire's side and raised her stake before shoving the wooden object into his heart. Within seconds, the vampire turned to dust.

Dean had made his way to Laken, who was now fully upright. "You know a simple 'watch out' would have been just find."

"Watch out!" Laken yelled.

"You got it."

"No, move!" She screamed again as another vampire appeared, this time attaching Dean. Dean blocked the punch and grabbed the vampire by her arm and kicked the back of her knees out from under her, causing the undead being to fall to the ground. He straddled her and for good measure threw a few punches her way.

"Here!" Laken shouted as she tossed Dean her stake.

Dean grabbed it and with one fluent movement, staked the vampire, who turned to dust. He stood up and brushed the vampire's dust off his jeans. "Want this back?"

"No, I have an extra."

Without another word, the two walked side by side into the darkness, still keeping a watch out for more vampires.

"So this is how you spend your nights?" Dean asked.

Laken twirled the stake in her hand as she scoped the area for vampires. "More or less." She took a deep breath, not sure how to apologize for earlier. "Listen, I am really sorry about almost killing you."

Shrugging, he replied, "It wouldn't have been the first time I died."

"Yeah, I kind of already knew that."

"Oh right, you guys researched us."

Laken cleared her throat. "We just needed to know more about the threat – you and Sam."

"I need to ask Cas about that. He really shouldn't neglect his angel duties."

"Right, I also heard that you and Sam are his favorites, like little pets." She ignored the look Dean gave her. "It's nice really. To have someone up there watching out for you."

"You should know."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Connor told you that Cas saved me from hell?"

"Yep."

"These days, death is never the end. It's sad, really." This time, she couldn't ignore the look Dean had sent her way. "I've just been doing this a long time."

"You and me both, princess."

"You have Sam, though. You're lucky."

"I am," he agreed. "Don't tell me it's actually hard for a demon to bond with other demons?"

Laken stopped in her tracks and looked genuinely hurt. "I'm not a demon. I fight demons, and along side some, yes, but I'm human."

"What about having demon blood inside of you?"

"What? Like Sam does?" Dean cleared his throat, not sure how to respond, so Laken continued. "The original slayer was infused with the heart and soul of a pure demon, which gave her all these abilities. But she killed demons and vampires and everything that goes bump in the night. She was a force of good, not evil. I may not be fully human, but I am no a demon."

Dean realized that he had hit a nerve with the demon thing. "That's what makes you so strong then."

Laken started walking again and Dean did the same. "Yeah, pretty much."

"It's impressive, you know."

She laughed slightly. "Right. Take away my slayerness and I would just be another Jane Doe."

"Something tells me that you wouldn't."

Laken, smiling to herself, looked down at her feet as she walked. "Yeah, you're probably right."

The next three cemeteries provided only a handful of vampires to be dusted, giving Dean and Laken time to talk and get to know each other better. Laken fully believed that to successfully work with someone in such high stress situations as the apocalypse, one needs to get to know her partners. She had a special bond with Angel, Spike, Gunn, Connor, and even Illyria that she thought allowed them to continuously come out victorious.

"I guess we can call it a night after this one," Laken said as she and Dean walked into the last cemetery. "The hellmouth must have called it an early night by the looks of things."

"Hellmouth?"

"Yeah. It's what makes this area so supernaturally. Evil is attracted to it; like a mouth to a flame. That's why Angel and I don't move around to find evil. Enough of it finds Los Angeles to keep us busy."

Dean nodded. "That makes sense. So Angel is the only one who has to help you?"

"He doesn't have to help. Historically, the slayer works by herself, only guided by her watcher. But Angel knew the others before I became a slayer and he was already fighting evil when he was appointed to be my watcher."

"By the Watcher's Council?"

"Yeah. It's only a few old men who are apart of it now. They were all killed years ago before the most famous slayer, Buffy, found a way to unlock all the potentials' powers."

"That's amazing."

"Except it didn't stick. Some big bad evil found a way to reverse it. That was the first apocalypse I encountered, and also the first time I died."

Dean looked at Laken as the two walked through the cemetery, the night sky eliminating her face and hair.  
"First time?"

"I was sixteen, and I faced Alocer, who apparently was the duke of Hell," she paused to let out a sarcastic laugh. "I only died for a few minutes; Connor was able to revive me."

"You were gone longer the second time?"

"Yeah. One hundred and twelve days."

Dean couldn't help but to stop her in her steps by grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry."

"I had to do it, ya know?"

He nodded. "I know. I did the same to save Sammy."

"I would have done anything to save my sister. I would have stayed there for eternity."

The two were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't know it had begun to rain. When they noticed, the rain was pounding the ground, which allowed Laken to control her emotions.

"I missed the rain when I was in hell," she admitted looking up at the sky.

Dean looked at her in amazement. There was so much about this young woman that he couldn't even begin to know. He wasn't sure what it was that attracted him to her in that moment. It wasn't her Jason Bourne fighting skills, her beauty, or even her shirt that was clinging to her wet chest. No, it was none of that. It was for the first time that he could see someone's vulnerability that matched his own. Dean, too, had missed the rain in hell.

Laken looked back at Dean to see that he was already looking at her, lost in the moment. "Tonight feels good."

Even though what Laken said didn't make any logical sense, Dean knew what she meant. The night was filled with the simple white and black evil with no grey area to complicate matters. They saw vampires and they killed them. Their jobs were done for the night, and now they were headed home when the rain had caught them. It was the purest form of water that ran over their bodies and it was cleansing; they were cleansed of the evil that they had faced earlier.

Dean stepped closer to her, putting his hands on her forearms. Their bodies were only an inch from touching, something that Laken desired just as badly as Dean. Laken took the next advance by pushing Dean into a tree and allowing his body to collide into hers. Without thinking, Dean put his lips on Laken's. The kiss wasn't hard or forced as Laken thought it would have been due to Dean's demeanor. Instead, the kiss was gentle but passionate. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her even closer to him. Her hands traveled up his chest to his neck where she clung.

Laken's body was screaming at her to give in, while her soul was begging her to retreat. She hadn't felt so good in a very long time. Dean's hands moved from her waist to under her wet shirt at the small of her back. Laken moaned his name softly in his ear as she lightly bit down on his bottom lip, causing Dean to pull her shirt off her in a smooth movement along with her bra. Laken fumbled with the zipper of his jeans and was finally able to unbutton his pants, exposing him to her. Although the rain made it more difficult to remove Laken's jeans, Dean was able to maneuver them off of her. Within seconds, Laken had her legs around Dean's waist and he was holding her up, and now her back was to the tree. Dean kissed Laken's lips and then neck as he slowly entered her. She arched her back at the first thrust, digging her nails into his shoulders.

The rain continued throughout the lovers duration. By the time they were done, both of them were too exhausted to stand up, so Dean laid his flannel button up on the ground for them to sit on. Laken rested her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. Her cold body reminded him that she was all but naked so he took off his denim jacket and wrapped her in it. The two remained silent as they listened to the rain, now only a sprinkle. Sleep came easy for the two in the back of the cemetery during the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Here, I found them." A female announced.

Laken slowly opened her eyes when she heard Illyria's voice. "Illyria?" Laken was groggy, but she was quickly brought back to reality when she saw Connor and Sam running toward them. "Dean," she whispered in his ear.

Dean, with his eyes still closed, leaned over and kissed her. "Hm?"

"Wake up."

Dean's eyes fluttered opened when he realized where they were. "Shit," he muttered the second he saw Illyria.

"Dean?"

"Hey, Sammy."

"Laken!" Connor exclaimed seeing that she and Dean had undoubtedly just had sex hours before. His facial expression represented pain in its rawest form, and Laken's heart dropped.

Laken stood up, forgetting she was only sporting panties. "Shit," she cursed under her breath when she saw Sam's reaction, realizing she was in fact nude.

Illyria looked at Sam and Connor. "They reek of fortification."

Dean stood up and covered Laken with his jacket for the second time. "This is one of those times that it is inappropriate to say things like that, Ill," Laken said because she didn't know what else to say.

"But having sex in a cemetery is appropriate?"

Sam and Dean both chuckled at the remark, Dean quickly silencing when Laken shot him a look.

"Connor-"

"I'll call Angel and let him know we found you."

"Thank you," she said meekly.

"If I knew you were off whoring around, I wouldn't have bothered," Connor hissed.

"Hey man!" Dean shouted fiercely. "There's no need for that."

Connor looked at Laken one last time before walking off, leaving the other four.

"Could you give us a minute?" Dean asked referring to Illyria and Sam.

"Yeah, sure, man," Sam said before he walked off with Illyria.

Laken was already gathering her clothes when Dean asked if she needed help. She rang out her shirt. "Only if you have a dryer."

"I don't have a dryer, but you can wear my jacket back to the hotel."

Laken smiled up at Dean as she bent down to put on her jeans. The wet denim scraped against her skin as she wiggled into them. Dean couldn't help but to laugh at this. "Oh, shut up!" She laughed as she gently pushed him.

Dean caught her fists in his hands and brought her closer. "Think you can take me, princess?"

"Oh, no. I know I can," she said with a sly smile. Dean bent down and picked up her bra, which he dangled in front of her face. Laken reached for it, unsuccessfully for he had moved it out of her grasp. "Really?"

He put the hand that was holding onto her bra behind his back. Laken lunged for it, wrapping her arms around Dean. Dean pressed the small of her back as he rested his forehead on hers. Laken used this as a distraction so she could successfully grab her bra. She stepped back victorious. "Told you."

"Dean!" Sam called from a few yards away.

"Alright man, keep your panties on."

"I could say the same to you!" He shouted back.

Back on the hotel, Connor was telling Angel where Dean and Laken had been.

"Good for her," Spike commented.

Connor glared at Spike. "What?"

"She's a slayer. Slayers are sexual beings. Isn't that right, Angel?" He asked referring to Buffy.

Laken, Dean, Sam, and Illyria walked into the hotel to see Spike, Angel, and Connor in the lobby. "Are you alright?" Angel asked.

"Last time I checked mate, she could have sex without going evil."

"Last time you checked?" Connor repeated, angry.

"Oh keep your panties on, lover boy. The slayer and me never danced the tango. At least not this slayer."

Dean looked puzzled. "You can't have sex without turning evil?"

"It's a long story," Angel answered. He then looked at Laken. "Can I speak with you, privately?"

"Yeah, sure." She followed Angel to another room leaving Spike, the Winchester brothers, Connor, and Illyria together.

"You still smell like sexual intercourse."

Dean looked at Illyria, rather shocked. "What's wrong with her?"

"This is nothing. You should have seen her before," Spike pointed out.

"I'm going to go somewhere else that's not here," Dean muttered.

"Try to front door," Connor suggested.

"Look, man. I don't know what crawled up your ass, but I'm tired of this."

"Dean, easy," Sam whispered.

"You have a boner for the slayer, ok. But don't act like I dipped my finger in your pudding."

"Dude, could you have used a grosser analogy?"

Dean ignored Sam's comment, but chose to pay close attention to Connor. "You think she is just some girl, but she's not. She is the most-"

"Hey, Connor, man. Don't," Gunn recommended as he walked into the room. "We all need to call it a night. It's three in the morning and we have a long day tomorrow."

"I couldn't agree more," Dean said before walking up the stairs. Sam followed and then showed him to the room that he would be staying in.

"And I'm right next to you." Sam stood there, refusing to go into his room.

"What is it, man?"

"Do you want to talk about having sex with the slayer?"

"Not really."

Sam nodded, grinning. "Alright. Night."

"Night."

"Hey Sam?"

Sam stuck his head out the door to his room. "Got any beer?"

"In the 'frig downstairs."

Laken closed the door to Angel's study as she rubbed the side of her face. Angel wasn't mad about her escapade with Dean, but worried that he may be a distraction, which she promised he wouldn't be. Angel didn't have much choice but to take her word for it, because, as she brought up, Dean and Sam were needed for preventing the end of the world.

Laken made it to her room and stripped down. Pulling off her wet pants gave her more trouble than she liked to admit. She hadn't stopped to think about what happened with her Dean. She was too tired to think about it at the moment, so she decided to get a shower and let the day wash off her.

In a few rooms over, Dean was doing the same thing. But he was able to think about what had happened between the two of them. Of course, it was more of a replay of the sex, but he did wonder how this would affect the hunt. He wasn't one for getting involved with a woman who was also involved with the hunt. Even with Jo, he never really got involved with her. He sighed to himself remembering that despite staying somewhat professional, Jo still died.

A few minutes after getting out of the shower, Laken made her way downstairs, hoping everyone had already gone to bed. She sat down at the counter with the pizza box from earlier in front of her. Slaying, amongst other things, had always made her hungry directly after.

"So yoga is your strenuous activity?" Dean asked as he walked into the kitchen, referring to what she had said hours before when she was only his waitress.

"Did I say yoga? I meant slaying and of course the after slayage."

He got a beer out of the refrigerator, trying not to gag at the sight of blood bags. "Want one?" He asked titling his beer to the side.

She shook her head. "No," she giggled. "Alcohol and slayers don't really go hand in hand."

"Why not?"

"It um… makes me revert back to cave woman like tendencies. It's not very pretty."

He raised his eyebrows as he sat down in a stool across from Laken. "Really?"

"Yeah. I found out the hard way. I almost burned down a frat house."

Dean laughed as he looked down at his beer. A moment of silence passed, but he didn't want awkwardness between the two of them. He needed to feel the comfort of Laken's body, and he could tell that she needed it too. They both craved a release, and having sex allowed that for them.

"I'm not embarrassed or ashamed about earlier," Laken said breaking the silence.

"I'm not either."

"The afterness of it was… less than desirable."

Dean nodded in agreement. "That could have gone better." Dean kicked himself mentally for asking, but he had to know. "What's with Connor?"

Laken moved the pizza around the box, not making eye contact with Dean. "He's stuck in the past."

"Ah, bad breakup?"

"More like a breakup from hell, me being in hell and all. When I um… got back, I was different. I couldn't go back to who he wanted me to be. He just never really got over that I'll never be that girl again."

Dean put his hands over hers. "It'll get easier. Readjusting back to this life took me several years. Hell, I still have nightmares about it."

She looked at Dean's hands on hers and could feel his warmth and his soft words spoke to her. "Can I be honest?"

"Yeah."

"I want to take you to my room and get lost for the rest of the night with you."

Dean raised his eyebrows as a crooked grin spread across his face. "I would like that."

Laken stood up, her hands still wrapped around his. Dean slowly got to his feet, not taking his eyes off of her. Yes, he wanted this. He wanted to share Laken's bed and feel her as he had felt her just hours before. He couldn't even think about the hunt at the moment, and therefore, couldn't care less about how being with Laken might affect it.

Laken knew what she was doing would complicate everything. She knew Angel would worry, just as Connor would hurt. But for the first time since she lost her sister, she was only thinking about what she wanted. Laken had been saving the world for six years, and in those six years, she had lost her sister, the chance for a normal life, and her life… twice. Having sex with Dean Winchester didn't seem like that big of a deal in comparison.

Dean watched as Laken took off her top, and seeing her bare chest made his jeans a little tighter. She took his hands and led him to her bed, pulling him on top of her. Still holding onto his hands, Laken brought his right index finger into her mouth and lightly suckled on it. "Take me," she whispered.

Dean put his forehead on hers. "I plan too, princess."


	4. Chapter 4

**This is the fourth chapter of my story. I don't own the characters from Supernatural or Angel. While the story is mainly original, I do include actual story lines and quotes from the characters. I focus a lot on Sam and Dean in this chapter because I don't want that aspect of the show to get lost in this fic. I hope you enjoy, and reviews are always welcomed!**

**...**

**CHAPTER FOUR  
**

_He taught himself how not to lose  
By never really trying to win  
That's how the man in front of you became  
The boy who never_

_-"The Boy Who Never" by Landon Piggs_

Dean woke up alone in Laken's bed the night after she invited him back to her room after they had gone patrolling. He looked around the room, in awe of how different everything looked in the light. Rubbing the back of his head, Dean put his feet on the cold wood floor, but still sitting on the edge of the bed. The clock next to the nightstand read 8:13 AM. No wonder he felt like shit, he thought, he had only slept two hours.

Once he had a chance to get adjusted waking, he heard noises coming from outside the bedroom window, not just any noises, but what he would call battle sounds. His heart skipped a beat as he rushed to the window to look down at the courtyard where he saw Laken training with Illyria and Gunn. So that's why she wasn't still asleep next to him. Dean chuckled to himself, because he knew that if he had woken before she had, he would have left. Son of a bitch beat him to it.

Sam, who had just woken up himself, looked for Dean in his room. When he saw that his bed hadn't been slept in, he knew where to find his brother.

Dean heard a light knocking on the door. He didn't know if he should answer it, being that he was in Laken's room, and not his own.

As Sam stood on the other side of the door, Connor walked toward him. "Sam?"

Sam turned to face Connor. "Oh, hey, Connor. I was looking for Laken," he lied.

"She's training in the courtyard, but I believe Dean is still in there," he said dryly before continuing his walk to his bedroom.

Sam opened the door to see Dean getting dressed. "Dude."

"Morning, Sammy."

"What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed."

Sam closed the door behind him and stepped further into Laken's room. "No, I mean with Laken."

"Well, Sam, when two people-"

"Oh, save it."

"But I love her, Sammy," Dean said softly.

"What?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"I'm just messing with you, man," he smiled as he walked past his brother, lightly pushing him. "I just needed to get my-"

"Dude!"

Dean opened the door to see Angel in the doorway. "What was the rest of that sentence?"

"I just needed to get my… watch," he said as he grabbed it off the floor.

Angel nodded, obviously not believing him. "I shouldn't have to tell you how dire this mission is."

"Of course not," Dean said, sounding insulted.

"We were just about to hit the books," Sam said.

"Good, but perhaps a shower first. You smell like sex," Angel said looking at Dean before walking away.

"Dude, Angel and Connor aren't your biggest fans."

"No kidding."

After Dean had showered and dressed, he met Sam in his room, where he was on the phone with Garth. "So we should check this out?"

Dean sat down on the end of the bed and waited for his brother to get off the phone.

"No, if it's important, we'll check it out. Thanks," he said before hanging up.

"What's that about?"

"We have another hunt to go on."

"That's not here?"

"Yep."

Dean was on his feet before Sam could finish his sentence. "Let's go."

The two brothers made their way down the spiral staircase in a matter of seconds. Dean looked through the lobby to outside where the courtyard was. The double doors were opened and he could see Laken as she fought Illyria. She moved with speed and grace in a way he had never seen other human being fight before. She was elegant, like a ballerina, but fierce like a lion; it was truly a mystical site.

Laken had lost her footing and Illyria took this as an opportunity to throw her through the courtyard and into the hotel. The sound of her skin sliding over the marble floor echoed through the building. "Damn it," she cursed as she pounded one of her fists on the floor and threw her head back.

Dean and Sam were both amazed when she stood up and shaked out her hands, for no real damage had been done. "You alright?" Dean called out to her.

Embarrassed that he had saw, she said, "Of course." She meant to walk out the double doors, but stumbled over her feet and fell to her knees.

"Laken?" Dean said worriedly as he ran to her side.

She pushed herself up. "I'm fine."

Gunn, too, was by her side. "Hey, let's take a break. You've been at this for hours."

"I'm not even remotely fatigued," Illyria called from the courtyard.

"Neither am I," Laken argued.

Gun wrapped his arms around her when he realized she was having trouble just standing up. "Laken, something's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just tired."

"I thought you just said you weren't," Dean pointed out in a soft voice as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Shrugging him off, she insisted, "I'm fine. I'm just going to lay down for a minute."

"Get Angel, Ill," Gunn called out.

Dean stood there, helpless, not knowing what to do. "Laken-"

"I'm fine. Weren't you guys on the way out, anyway? I'll see you later."

Gunn exchanged a worried look with Dean as he helped her into Angel's office.

"Hey, Dean?"

"I'm coming, Sam," Dean answered before walking toward the door. Once inside the Impala, Dean asked Sam about the case.

"It can wait if you want to talk about-"

Dean pulled out of the hotel in a screeching manner. "The only think I want to talk about is this case."

"Ok then. Garth-"

"Over breakfast. I'm starving."

Within moments, the Winchester brothers had pulled into a dinner. Dean didn't hesitate to hop out of his car and make his way to the entrance, leaving Sam dragging behind.

Sam was worried about Dean, more so than usual. Dean was no stranger when it came to sleeping with women, but he was a stranger to talking about his emotions. Sam remembered when Dean had to leave Lisa and Ben, and how badly it tore him up inside, not to mention how hard Dean took it when Jo died. Although Sam liked to think that his brother could have that life that went beyond hunting, he knew that it would probably never happen.

Sam joined his brother at a booth where Dean was already looking over the plastic placemat menu. "The double bacon and sausage platter sounds good," Dean mused.

A waitress greeted Dean and Sam and got their drink orders, two coffees, before she left to retrieve them.

"Ready to talk about the case."

"Shoot."

Sam settled in his side of the booth with his laptop on the table. "As far as I can tell, it's a textbook haunting. Eddie is a widower of a woman named Angela, whose body was never found. Police suspected foul play, but couldn't prove it. Ever since she died, he has experienced poltergeist activities, and even been committed to a mental institution about a year ago."

"How long ago did his wife die?"

"Six years."

The waitress sat down their coffees. "What can I get you boys?"

"I'll have the double bacon and sausage platter."

The waitress nodded and wrote down Dean's order before turning to Sam. "And you, sugar?"

"I'll just have a bowl of oatmeal and a side of fruit."

"Alright. Coming right up."

Dean made sure that their waitress was out of earshot before he admitted, "I don't know what this has to do with us right now. Let the guy go crazy, if he's seeing his dead wife then that means he's the reason why she's dead."

"I don't think it's just his wife who's haunting him."

"He killed someone else?"

Sam nodded. "Word on the street at the time is that he ran over a twelve-year-old girl the night his wife died."

"So what? He did a hit and run and the wife freaked so he found a way to shut her up permanently?"

"I'm guessing so."

Dean took a sip of his coffee as he thought the case over. "Are we thinking it's the girl or wife who is making his life hell?"

"That's where it gets more interesting. He claims that a young woman visits him in his sleep, and for about four months before he started seeing her in his dreams, he saw her everyday when he was awake. That's what made him be committed."

"This other chick, does he know her?"

"No, I mean, except for what he sees in his dreams."

Dean sighed leaning back into the booth. "Awesome. I love it when we have no leads."

Sam cleared his throat, not sure how to introduce this last piece of evidence. "That's not exactly true. Eddie, apparently, is an artist, and he was able to draw this sketch." Sam slowly turned his laptop around so that Dean could see the image.

"What the…," he whispered when he looked at the sketch. "That looks a hell of a lot like-"

"Laken," Sam interrupted so that Dean didn't have to say it.

Dean rubbed his clenched jaw as he stared at the image. "How is that possible?"

"Last night, I did some little research of my own on Laken, just to make sure we weren't going to be set up again."

"What did you find out?"

"Did Laken ever tell you that she had a sister?"

"No… wait, yeah, she did. Um, she just said that her sister had died."

"Did she tell you how or when?"

"No."

"I think the little girl who Eddie hit was Laken's sister. She fits the description, twelve-year-old girl killed by a hit and run accident."

"Same day?"

"Same day, same street."

"God damnit," Dean cursed.

"Should we tell her?"

"No. We'll just handle this like any other case."

The waitress put down the brother's food in front of them. "Let me know if I can get you anything else."

"So we're thinking Laken is astral projecting into this guy's dream?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think that's what's going on."

Dean dug into his food, making it obvious that he didn't want to discuss the case any further until they were on the road. Sam took note and did the same. In fact, the brothers didn't so much as look at one another until they were in the Impala.

"Where to?"

Sam brought up the hospital's address on his phone. "It's 7126 Johnson Ave. Pretty much a straight shot north and we'll be there in about 25 minutes."

Dean rolled down the windows and turned up the stereo that was blaring Led Zeppelin. "It's just like any other case," Dean said again, trying to convince himself rather than Sam.

The drive there, Sam mentally prepared himself for what could happen within the next few days. This could be one of the hardest cases that Dean has had to face if it means that Laken is apart of some kind of black magic to avenge her sister's death.

When the Impala pulled up to the hospital, Sam and Dean were discussing their cover story. "Alright, we're FBI agents looking into Eddie's wife's murder."

"Works for me, Sam."

Like usual, getting into the facility with their fake FBI badges proved to be less than easy. One of the nurses led the two men to Eddie, who was sitting at a table by himself in the break room staring out the window. "That's Eddie. You're lucky he's one of the few talkers we have."

"Thank you," Sam said to the nurse and watched her walk away.

"Dude," Dean moaned.

"Sorry, man. Unlike you, I haven't had sex twice in under twelve hours."

"Who said it was only twice?" Dean grinned before he and Sam joined Eddie. "Hello, Eddie. My name is Agent John Jones and this is Agent Jimmy Page. We were wanting to ask you some questions."

"About her?"

"Could you be a bit more specific, Eddie?" Sam asked.

"About the little girl I ran over."

Dean sat down at the table across from Eddie. "Yeah. The little girl you ran over and left for dead, which she did… die."

"Agent…" Sam said in a warning tone.

Eddie looked to his left, and from what Sam and Dean could tell, no one was there. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Who are you talking to, Eddie?"

Eddie lifted his hands off a piece of paper that was lying on the table next to dull pencils. "Her." When Dean and Sam looked at the drawing, they saw that it was Laken.

"She's here, right now."

"No. I only see her when I'm asleep, but I can feel her everywhere."

"I'm sorry agents," the nurse said as she approached Dean and Sam. "It's time for Eddie to rest. He hasn't been sleeping well."

Dean stood up as Eddie did. "Can we wait for him to wake up?"

"I suppose, but you'll have to wait outside his room."

"That's fine," Sam assured.

The brothers waited outside Eddie's room, hoping he would wake up sooner rather than later. In the mean time, Dean thought he should call Laken, if not to check in on her, but to check in on how the research was going.

The phone rang several times, and the longer it took Laken to answer, the more anxious Dean became.

"Hello?"

"Laken, hey, it's Dean."

"That's what the caller id said, so I figured."

"How are you feeling?"

She paused before answering. "Like I said, I was fine. Just lack of sleep gets to me."

"So you've been sleeping today?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"I'm just worried."

"Well I haven't had the chance to catch up on my sleep. I had a mid day shift at Panattoni's and I just got back to the hotel."

Dean was relieved that she hadn't had a chance to astral project. "Try to get some rest, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Sam and I are working a case about 30 minutes north of the hotel. I think we're closing in on it."

"Good luck with it. I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah." Dean said before hanging up. When he walked back to Eddie's room, he saw that Sam was opening the door and walking into the room. Eddie's screams filled the hallways.

"Hey, hey!" Sam yelled at Eddie as he shook him away. "What happened?"

"She was in my head again."

"Just now?" Dean asked.

He nodded. "I want it to stop. Please, make it stop."


	5. Chapter 5

** I don't own the characters from Supernatural or Angel. While the story is mainly original, I do include actual story lines and quotes from the characters. I hope you enjoy, and reviews are always welcomed!**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

_If I told you things I did before, told you how I used to be  
Would you go along with someone like me  
If you knew my story word for word, had all of my history  
Would you go along with someone like me_

_-"Young Folks" by Peter Bjorn and John_

****

"How is Laken astral projecting with out knowing?" Dean asked when he was behind the wheel of the Impala.

"I've never heard of it."

"I'll call Garth and see what he thinks, but I'm as lost as you are. Unless…"

"Unless what, Sam?"

"Unless she's using black magic to do this."

Dean pulled out of the hospital, not sure how to respond. Of course Dean would have liked to think that she wasn't using black magic, but when it came down to it, Dean didn't know much about anything when it came to Laken. "Black magic?"

"I looked into the spell Angel used to send Laken to hell to kill Alocer; major black magic."

"Laken was in hell a little over a year ago, the same time Eddie started see Laken's ghost. That's the same time when she was in hell, when she was dead."

Sam looked through the file he had made. "Yeah, that's right," he confirmed.

"So when Laken was dead, she found this son of a bitch who killed her sister. Is it possible that maybe a part of her soul was still left in hell?

"Or maybe all of it?"

Dean shook his head. "No, she is full of emotions."

"I'm not talking about having a fun filled sexual experience with her-"

"I'm not either," Dean interrupted. "We didn't just hump like rabbits, Sam. She talked to me, I mean, really talked."

Sam threw his hands up in defense. "Okay, man. I was just throwing that out there. Say some of her soul is still in hell… it's still haunting Eddie, but since it's not complete, it can't come to him as a form of an apprehension."

"But just in his dreams." Dean looked at Sam and couldn't help but to crack a small smile. "I think we figured it out. We just need to make sure." Dean paused before calling for Cas.

Within seconds, Cas had appeared in the backseat. "Hello, Dean, Sam."

"Cas, we were just wondering if you suck at yanking all people out of hell, or is it just Sammy's and Laken's souls you forgot about?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"You know how you left my soul behind?" Sam asked, trying not to sound too harsh.

"Yes, vividly."

"Did you happen to forget part of Laken's?"

Cas shook his head. "Absolutely not. A soul cannot be pulled apart or some left behind. A human soul stays intact."

"Laken isn't entirely human, she has that slayer-demon thing apart of her," Dean pointed out.

"What if you got her human soul, but left the slayer-demon soul?"

Cas thought for a moment. "I will return shortly."

"Wait, Cas!" Dean exclaimed, but he was already gone.

"I think we need to talk to her," Sam suggested. "If it were a normal case, we would."

"I know you're right, Sam."

"But?"

"No buts. We'll talk to her. I just don't know where to start."

When the brothers pulled into the hotel parking, Dean was still not sure how to begin this conversation, despite running about half a dozen scenarios through his head. Not only was it Laken's soul that was tormenting a man, but also that same son of a bitch was responsible for her sister's death. Dean didn't even know if Laken knew Eddie Chambers.

"You left part of her soul!" Angel was yelling at Cas when Dean and Sam walked into the lobby.

"Looks like that awkward intro has been taken care of," Sam whispered to Dean.

"In deed, I did. I take full responsibility for this catastrophe," Cas said.

"As you should, mate," Spike chimed in. "If anyone knows how tricky this soul business is, it's Angel and me. The girls needs the her slayer soul."

Dean scanned the room, looking for Laken, and to his wonder, her found her sitting cross-legged on the red couch with her hands in her lap. She wasn't a part of the conversation, but instead she was just staring down at the floor.

"How does she still have her slayer abilities?" Gunn questioned out loud. "If her slayer soul in still in hell, shouldn't her super powers be there too?"

Cas shook his head. "No, her slayer abilities are connected directly to her blood and her heart. Her slayer soul is what gives her the drive to fight evil and the rawness that she needs to survive."

"This explains so much," Connor said to Angel. "She has been getting tired so much more easily," he paused to think further. "Her drive to perform her slayer duties have been nearly inexistent since she got back from hell."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here!" Laken yelled as she stood up. "I'm not lacking the desire to slay because some part of my soul is still in hell, I'm lacking the desire because I am tired of this! I have saved the world… a lot. Every day to get up is a struggle, and sometimes I don't think I can. And if that is because my slayer soul is in hell, then let it stay. I rather know that this is how I really feel than bouncing up from my bed every morning and jumping to kill evil."

"Laken," Angel whispered.

"No, Angel. You told me that my gift to the world is death. I don't want it anymore."

"Poppet," Spike began.

"I'm not saying that I'm not going to save the world again and again, but I am saying that I don't want to be happy about constantly killing." She looked at Dean and Sam. "I almost killed them, and they are one hundred percent human. They fight the battle that we do, and if you ask me, they do it better."

Connor walked toward her, and put his arms on her shoulders, trying to comfort her. "Laken, we can get your other soul back. You'll be happier, and we can be like we were."

Laken looked into his eyes, pleading with him. Laken knew that Connor missed her, but she didn't realize that he was willing to trade her genuine feelings for a super power slayer. Laken shook her head, fighting back tears. "I am never going to be that girl again, Connor. Just let me go," she begged.

Connor dropped his arms to his side, fighting back tears of his own now. "Just like that?"

"Connor," she whispered.

"Don't Laken. This douchebag comes rolling into town in his over compensating vehicle-"

"Hey, leave her out of this," Dean said, referring to the Impala. "And I am not over compensating for anything." Connor ignored Dean's remarks as he focused his attention on Laken.

"Connor, that's enough," Angel warned as he grabbed Connor's shoulder.

Connor shrugged Angel off of him, still not breaking eye contact with Laken. "I'll still fight next to you, Laken, but that's it. Don't come to me when he leaves you in pieces. Remember, you're just like every other normal girl out there, just as vulnerable, without your other half. You may still have your abilities, but you don't have the other abilities to leave your emotions at the door and do what you have to do."

"I said that was enough," Angel warned again.

This time, Connor turned around to look at him. "You know I'm right, dad. Do you think Buffy could have stabbed you through the heart with a sword and sent you to hell if it wasn't for her slayer soul?" After made his point, Connor walked out of the lobby and out the front door.

"It was more in the stomach than the heart," Angel muttered.

"What should we do, Cas?" Sam asked.

"It's up to Laken," Cas answered looking at her. "Do you not want your slayer-"

"No," she interrupted.

"Laken, we need to talk about this," Angel said, his voice soft but still authoritative.

She let out a small, sarcastic laugh. "Why? So you can tell me that I have to get that other part of me shoved back in? Don't you think it's all kinds of screwed up being in hell for this long?"

"She may be right, Angel," Cas admitted. "The longer a soul resigns in hell, the less likely it is to be able to function in this world."

"This isn't a human soul, this is the soul of a slayer," Angel pointed out.

"You're not going to convince me to do it," Laken said. "Am I really that different, Angel?"

"We're not saying that, poppet," Spike said trying to keep a fight from occurring.

"I was going to kill two humans! What more proof do you need?" She demanded.

Cas shifted uncomfortably, remembering the tension in the room when Dean was planning to force Sam's soul back into him, and it felt a lot like this.

"We've had a long day. Let's go to our separate corners," Gunn suggested.

"I couldn't agree more," Laken said.

Angel followed her with his eyes as she walked to the door. "Where are you going?"

"Mate, let her be," Spike said in a low tone.

Laken looked at Angel, but didn't respond. Instead she threw open the door and walked out, leaving it open. Angel dove behind the couch to keep from getting scorched by the sunlight, which made Dean crack a smile. Sure he could almost stomach working with vamps, but that was just too damn funny.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" Sam asked his brother.

"She's the slayer, I'm sure she's capable of a late afternoon walk by herself," Dean said before he walked up the spiral staircase and to his room. The truth was, he wanted to go after Laken, but he had no idea what to say when he caught up to her. So, he traded out of his cheap suit for a pair of jeans, a plain grey shirt, and a denim button down. By the time he was lacing his brown leather shoes, Sam had walked into Dean's bedroom.

"I'm going to say this once, man," Sam said in a soft voice. "When you and Bobby decided that I needed my soul back, I was scared, even if I didn't really know it at the time. I would have loved someone to listen to me."

"We listened, Sammy."

"No, I mean really listen. I had genuine concerns, and you guys didn't care. Imagine how Laken is feeling now. This other soul of hers that is all slayer… it's the thing that makes her so…"

"I know that, Sam. What's your point?"

"I'm just saying that she could use someone to listen to her. Her friends can't give her that right now because they already have their minds made up on what is best for the slayer, but not necessarily for Laken."

"Fine, but you have to look into the case while I'm babysitting."

"Sure thing. I'll give Garth and call and do some research."

Dean stood up and grabbed his green army jacket. "I'll be back soon." Within minutes, Dean had pulled out of the hotel driveway and on his way to look for a pretty pissed off slayer. "Cas!"

Cas appeared in the passenger seat. "Looking for Laken?"

"Uh… yeah."

"She's at El Matador Beach."

Dean knew where that was. "Alright." He paused and briefly looked at Cas. "Are you going to shove that girl's other soul back inside of her?"

"I honestly don't know Dean; I'm torn."

"Why?"

"As an individual, Laken would profit much more without the slayer soul. But she isn't just an individual. She is a solider who fights against evil, and as such, she needs that part of her. The world relies on her, and it is my duty to ensure Earth's survival."

Dean understood both aspects that Cas had discussed. He knew what it was like to make sacrifices. God knew he did. But he knew what it was like to want to stop the hunting, stop the killing. Regardless, Laken had a prophecy to fulfill, and he was sure she wasn't going to walk away from that. "You don't think that she could survive this upcoming battle without her slayer soul?"

"Dean, she isn't going to survive it either way. But the question is, is she going to be able to defeat this new enemy without it."

Dean cursed under his breath and Cas disappeared, leaving the drive to the beach a silent one. When Dean arrived at the beach, he immediately saw Laken. For it to be in the middle of January, she was the only one wading in the water. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants that she didn't bother to roll up and a long sleeve grey shirt that hugged her body. The wind was blowing her hair, wiping the long honey brown strands violently around her face and shoulders.

"Hey, princess."

Laken didn't turn around, but still faced the sunset. "Did Angel send you?"

Dean took off his shoes and socks so he could wade in the water with her. The water engulfed his feet, and it felt as if thousands of needles were stabbing him due to the absolute coldness. But instead of asking her to get out of the water, he joined her. "No."

She looked at him; her eyes were red from crying. "You were wrong."

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific."  
"Without that predestined slayer stuff, I am a normal, everyday kind of girl.

"No, you're not."

Laken acted as if he didn't say anything, but decided to change the subject. "Can you feel the water, the sheer coldness of it?"

"Oh yeah I can."

"I can't, I mean not really."

Dean touched her chest with one of his hands and felt her heart beating. "Can you feel that?"

She nodded.

"Good, because that's all you need to feel right now." Dean moved his hand from her chest to the small of her back and brought her closer to him.

"Dean," she whimpered.

He wrapped both arms around her waist as she rested her hands on his chest. "It's going to be okay."

She nodded and leaned her face up so she could kiss him. Dean deepened the kiss by parting her lips with his tongue, causing Laken to moan. She moved her hands from his chest to his neck, one hand running through his hair. Dean scooped her up bride and groom style so he could carry her to the sand. He knelt down, still holding onto her. Although the breeze sent shivers down his spine, Dean removed his jacket and laid it on the sand before gently sitting Laken on it. She pulled him down on to of her by the collar of his denim shirt.

For the first few minutes, the two caressed each other and exchanged gentle kisses. There was no rush like there had been last night in the cemetery. Likewise there was no urgency as there was in Laken's bedroom. They knew this wasn't going to be just a few random nights together. No, this wasn't going to be like Dean's casual encounters with women on hunts. Dean's realized that he was a hunter and she was the slayer, and they didn't have the luxury to be cautious or to take it slow when it came to things like this. But at the moment, they could take all the time they needed because this was their time to be selfish. What Cas had said that Laken wouldn't survive the battle was in the back of his mind. While he couldn't change fate in the past to save his parents, he was determined to change it this time.

"You're cold," Laken whispered in between kisses.

"You're doing a good job of warming me up," Dean smiled as he rubbed her nose with his own.

"Maybe we should loose more of these clothes and let our body heat warm us."

Dean, now straddling Laken, sat up and allowed Laken to remove both of his shirts. She stared up at him and ran her hands over his chest, letting this image of Dean to be burned into her memory. Dean leaned over and pulled her shirt off and Laken unhooked her bra. Kissing her lips again, Dean cupped her breasts into his hands. Laken reached under Dean to unzip his jeans, and this time it was him who moaned when she wrapped her right hand around him as she pulled his aching organ from his jeans. Laken used her left hand to pull down her yoga pants with Dean helping her push them to her feet.

Looking into her eyes, Dean entered her. His thrusts were slow but deep. He wrapped one of his hands under her, allowing him to go deeper into her as he used one hand to support his weight. Laken pulled him down closer so that his chest was on top of hers and nimbled on his right earlobe.

"You feel so good," Dean whispered to her.

"Never stop," she pleaded.

"I never plan to, baby," he admitted before his lips collided with hers.

The sound of Dean's ringing phone made Laken stir in Dean's arms, causing him to wake up. He reached over to his jeans that were lying next to him and dug into one of his pockets until he found the noisy device.

"Yeah?" He answered, still not fully awake.

"Hey, man."

"Sam, what's up?"

Laken had woken up as well, but didn't bother to move off of Dean's chest because his free arm was still wrapped tightly around her waist. So instead, she planted a trail of kisses on his neck.

Sam spent the last three hours going through research and talking to Garth, and his head was about to explode. "I can't seem to find anything about how to solve the case."

The case, shit, Dean thought. He had forgotten all about it when he found Laken. "Right. We'll head back that way soon."

"Alright, dude. Have you told her?"

Dean looked down at Laken, who was resting her head on his chest. "Working on it." And with that, he hung up the phone.

"Duty calls?"

"Yeah."

Laken sat up, not bothering to cover herself. "I guess we have been selfish enough for one day."

Dean got to his feet and helped her up. "Not yet."


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

_I've been beaten down,  
I've been kicked around,  
But she takes it all for me.  
And I lost my faith, in my darkest days,  
But she makes me want to believe.  
They call her love, love, love, love, love.  
She is love, and she is all I need._

_-"She is Love" by Parachute _

Dean glanced at Laken, who had her legs pulled up to her chest and his arms wrapped around her knees. Her hair was blowing gently in the wind and she was bobbing her head ever so slightly to_ The Who_ that was blaring from the stereo in the Impala. She didn't ask Dean where they were going after their time on the beach. Instead, she smiled at the idea that she didn't know where they were going and that she was with Dean.

Laken happened to look at Dean, and saw that he was already looking at her. "What?"

Dean smiled and stroked her hair. "You're beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself," she said with a grin before she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

Dean, now looking at the road noticed that the small café he was looking for was a few hundred yards away.

"We're here," he said as they pulled in. Laken looked out the window and saw the sign that read _Pam's Café_ hanging from roof.

"Where is here exactly?"

"They have the best pecan pie here." He paused. "You do eat pecan pie, right?"

"Yes," she smiled as she got out of Dean's car, Dean doing the same. Laken waited for him at the front of his car and when he joined her, he reached down and took her hand in his, which took Laken back.

Dean noticed her facial expression, and unable to read it, he asked, "No?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, it's good," she rambled.

A crooked grin spread across Dean's face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The two found a booth and ordered two cups of coffee and two slices of pecan pie. "So, you took me thirty minutes away from the hotel to get pie?"

"It's really good pie."

"I'm sure it is. I can't help but to think that there is something else going on."

Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I needed to tell you something."

"You have a girlfriend?"

"No."

"A kid?"

He thought for a second, but decided to leave out the time he got a woman named Lydia pregnant with a child who grew abnormally fast and was destined to be an evil Amazonian. "No."

"You're a demon."

"No. I do have something to tell you, though. Just not right now, ok?"

Laken gave Dean strange look. "Okay?"

There sever sat down the two slices of pie. "Anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Dean replied. He picked a piece of his slice off with his fork and looked at Laken. "I'm telling you it's the best pie ever."

The two drank their coffee and ate their pie and carried on a very normal conversation, finding out more and more about each other.

"You went to college?" Dean asked shocked.

Laken took a sip of her coffee before replying, "I did. Graduated, actually."

"No."

"Yeah."

"What's your degree in?"

"It's useless, really."

"Oh come on."

"History."

Dean couldn't help but to chuckle softly. "You're right."

Laken leaned over the table and lightly punched Dean in his shoulder. "Hey!"

"You said it, not me, babe."

"Well I thought I could be a curator. You know, when I was done with this current occupation."

"Waitressing?" He joked.

"Slaying. But not many retire from this line of work."

"You can."

She laughed, but it was a sad laugh. A laugh that Dean knew it meant that she did out of protection because she did want to retire from slaying and continue with her life. "Right. Just like you can walk away from being a hunter. It's in our blood."

"You don't know how right you are about that," he agreed.

Soon after, the two finished the pie and decided to head back to the hotel.

"What is it, Dean?" Laken asked once the two were back inside the Impala. "What you wanted to tell me?"

"I don't know how to say this…"

"Dean, just tell me."

"Does the name Eddie Chambers mean anything to you?"

Laken leaned back into booth, astonished that Dean knew who he was. "So you did a little research of your own, hm?"

"It wasn't like that. Garth had us go see him today on a case."

"A case? Did he kill someone else?"

"No… you mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"That he's in a mental institution." When Laken didn't respond, he continued. "He has been haunted for a little over a year now."

Laken let out a sigh of relief. "Good. He deserves it."

"That may be true, but the person who's haunting him isn't dead."

"How is that possible?"

"Sam and I think it's a form of astral projection. We don't have it all figured out yet."

"Does he know the person who's haunting him?"

"Not by name, no."

"I don't really understand why you're telling me this."

"Because, Laken, you're the one who is haunting him."

"What? That's impossible. I haven't seen him in six years, and I'm definitely not astral projecting my self to him."

"We think it's your other soul… in hell that's haunting him."

Laken looked down at her cup of coffee. "Did the hauntings start when I was in hell?"

"Yeah."

"And he's still being haunted?"

"Yes."

She looked at him. "You really think it's me, or my soul?"

"He drew a sketch of you."

"So it's me?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Laken…"

"Dean, no. That pathetic excuse for a human being ran over my twelve-year-old sister and left her for dead in the street. If he had just stopped and called an ambulance, she would have lived! Jaina bled out. She was cold and alone in the dark when she died," Laken said, her voice cracking. "I hope that son of a bitch is always haunted, even if that means a part of me will rot in hell."

Dean grabbed her hands. "You don't want that."

"You're right. I wanted to kill him. The only reason I didn't was because of Angel. Somehow he convinced me not to .Wouldn't you do the same to avenge Sam?"

Dean knew he would, and Laken knew that too, so he didn't answer her.

"I thought so."

"You're better than that."

"I may be. But I am not above letting him suffer for the rest of his life. If you want to help him, that's on you. But don't you dare ask me to."

Dean, not knowing what else to do, put his arms around her. "You're right."

Laken leaned into his chest and wasn't ashamed when she started crying. For years, she hadn't spoken about Jaina for fear that this would happen. But now, in Dean's arms, she knew she was safe, and it was okay for her to mourn her sister. Before Dean knew it, Laken had cried herself to sleep in his arms. Not having the heart to wake her, he gently readjusted her body so that she was still laying on him, but where he was still able to drive.

Laken was still asleep when they had made it back to the hotel. Knowing that she could use all the sleep that she could get, Dean carefully carried her to the front door where Sam was waiting for him.

"What happened?" He whispered.

"She fell asleep. Get the door for me, will ya?"

Sam opened the door. "Meet me in my room."

Dean nodded before he walked through the doorway and up the stairs. Laken's bedroom door was open, so he walked through and laid her on her bed. Instead of leaving her there as she was, he took off her shoes and wrapped her bed quilt around her. She stirred slightly, but never fully woken. Dean leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

When Dean walking into Sam's room, he noticed Sam's laptop was on Busty Asian Beauties. "Ah hah! I knew you liked that site too. Platinum member?"

Sam, embarrassed closed the screen. "How did it go with Laken?"

"Well I can tell you that I won't be needing my membership."

"Not that, Dean. I meant with telling her about Eddie."

Dean sat down on the end of Sam's bed. "I don't think we should help him."

"What?"

"Laken isn't going to participate, and I'm thinking she's right. That ass killed a little girl and then his wife. Who says he doesn't deserve what he's getting?"

"That's not our call to make, Dean."

"I know. I know that, but I don't know if I can stomach it man, helping him."

Sam sat down next to his brother. "I know. It's hard sometimes. But no one deserves to be haunted."

"That's not our call to make, either, dude. You know he left her there to bleed out. She could have been saved."

"You're too involved with this."

"Maybe I am."

"I'll handle it, ok? I'll see if there is some way to break the connection. You should sit this one out."

"Thanks, Sammy."

Laken poked her head in Sam's doorway. "Do you guys want to go kill stuff?"

"Vamps?" Dean asked.

"Even better. Gunn found a Gorgon demon that has been eating babies."

"That's the one with snakes for hair, right?" Dean asked.

"Yep, poisonous stakes," Laken said excitedly.

"Awesome. I'll make sure we have enough weapons in the Impala," Sam volunteered before he walked out the room.

"Ready?" Laken asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. You know if you need to hang back, Sam and I can easily handle this."

"Thanks, but I'm okay. I guess I'm just not use to having actual feelings."

"It's a new one for me too," Dean whispered in her ear.

"Hey, guys," Gunn greeted.

"Hey, what's up?" Laken asked.

"Connor and I are going to check out a new vamp nest unless you need back up with the Gorgon demon."

"No, we can handle it."

"Cool."

"Have you see Angel?"

"Yeah, him and Spike are testing Illyria's powers again. They think she has some untapped juice in there."

"Ew…" Laken giggled.

Gunn shook his head. "You know what I meant."

"Dean!" Sam called from down the stairs.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Laken answered. "We'll see you guys in a bit. Call if you need us."

"Will do," Gunn promised.

Laken and Dean joined Sam downstairs. "I just need to grab something," Laken said before she disappeared into Angel's study. When she reemerged, she was holding a German Halbeard Head, which was basically an angled ax with an extra pointy end.

"Oh that's awesome," Dean whispered.

"Right?" Laken said with a smile.  
...

When the three arrived at the abandoned factory, Laken was the first one out of the car. "Let me check it out first."

"No," Dean said sternly.

Laken sighed as both Dean and Sam stepped out of the Impala. "Fine. But these things are known to have a collection of snakes hanging around."

"Snakes?" Dean asked. "I really hate snakes."

"Yeah, well they're worst than your average snake. The gorgon is controlling them, so they're pretty much possessed, almost like when a demon possesses a human."

"Awesome," Dean sighed.

"Don't let the gorgon's blood touch you, especially the blood from the left side of its head."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"It's fatal."

"Of course it is," Dean said.

"If you guys don't want to-"

"Are you kidding me? We do this shit all the time," Dean pointed out.

Moments later, Laken, Dean, and Sam were inside the factory. "Remember, snakes are drawn to the gorgons, so watch your step."

"Awesome," Sam muttered.

Laken took off her backpack and pulled out a flashlight. "Tread lightly," Laken told the brothers. Hearing something slithering, Laken turned and saw a snake coming toward Sam. In one fluid motion, she grabbed a knife out of her back pocket and threw it at the snake, cutting its head off.

"Thanks," Sam said in awe.

"So hot," Dean whispered.

Laken bent down to retrieve her knife from the dead snake and when she looked forward, she was horrified to see that most of the floor in front of them was covered with snakes. "Oh shit."

Dean and Sam squinted in the darkness and saw what she saw. "Fuck."

Laken pulled out two small fire guns from her backpack and tossed them to the Winchester men. "The gorgon demon is close. I'm going to skip ahead. You guys be careful."

"Skip ahead? How?" Dean asked.

Laken only smiled at him before she literally skipped to the end of the warehouse just five steps, each time landing on top of a snake's head.

"Like that then," Sam said.

Sam and Dean looked at each other before they unleashed the fire onto the hundreds of snakes that lined the floor. Meanwhile, Laken had made her way up the first flight of stairs when she heard hissing. When Laken looked up the second flight of stairs, she saw the gorgon, which was about ten feet tall and five feet wide. Although a female figure, the body did not have arms or legs, but it had the body of a snake.

"Slayer," it hissed through its teeth. "You smell delicious."

"Yeah, you not so much."

"Why such a sour face?"

"Oh so you're one of those kind of demons who like to talk before I cut off their heads?"

Laken could hear Sam and Dean coming up from behind her, but if she hadn't, she would have known by the "Oh, shit," remark Dean said when he saw the gorgon.

"Oh, slayer, I am immortal."

"And?"

"And I can do anything?"

"Oh yeah? Then clap."

The demon looked at down at its armless body and then hissed in anger. "Slayer, I am going to enjoy feasting on your organs."

"Ew," Laken said before she jumped in the air and did a flip over the gorgon. Before the gorgon had a chance to turn around, Laken cut off its head with the fancy axe. "Hurry, shoot it with the fire gun!"

Dean pulled the trigger, but he had used all the fluid on the snakes. "Sam, you try."

Luckily Sam's gun worked and the gorgon was burnt to a crisp. "Wow."

"That was awesome," Dean agreed looking at the corpse. "Why haven't we used these things?"

"Well those particular ones were made specifically for the slayer." Laken took off her flannel shirt so she could wipe the blade free of blood and tossed the shirt in the mile of ash that was the gorgon. "Can't take any chances." And with that, Sam flamed the shirt.

"That's it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"It's still early. Wanna grab a beer?"

"You guys go ahead. I'm going to make sure Gunn and Connor don't need any help."

"We'll come with," Dean offered.

"It's not necessary. It's just a few vamps," Laken said as she began walking down the stairs, the Winchester brothers right behind. Once they had gotten to the first floor of the warehouse, Laken was impressed with the results of the snakes. "Looks like you guys got them all."

"Yeah we did," Dean boasted.

Laken reached over and stroked his one of his arms. "You guys go ahead. I'm not much of a drinker, remember?"

Dean nodded. "Where should we take you?"

"I'll be fine, you guys go, have fun."

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Fine, I'll call Gunn on the way."

The three loaded up in the Impala, heading toward the hotel. When Laken reached Gunn, he informed her that the vampire nest was taken care of, so there were going to call it an early night.

"Back to the hotel, then?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I don't get very many of these early nights."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Thanks, Sam, but a hot bath is calling my name."

Dean raised his eyebrows as he looked into the rear view mirror, which made Laken roll her eyes and crack a smile at the same time. Moments later, they had dropped Laken off at the hotel and Dean and Sam were on their way to a dive to have a few beers.

"So you and the slayer?" Sam asked after their second round of beers.

Dean took a swig of his beer and sat it back down on the bar. Sam expected some kind of sexual remark or how hot she looks naked, but instead Dean said, "Yeah, Sammy. I think if we make it out alive with this, I'm going to get out of hunting."

"Really?"

"Laken doesn't want to do this whole slaying thing, I mean not really."

"Wow, Dean, that's incredible."

He nodded. "It is, isn't?"

"The Winchester brothers, no longer hunters."

Dean looked at Sam. "You too?"

"Yeah, man. I mean, I've been wanting to throw in the towel, you know that."

"I know, I just never thought you would. And I thought I would get ganked on the job."

"We still could. This apocalypse seems pretty crazy."

"Don't they all, though?"

"I guess they do." Sam paused to take a drink from his beer. "Have you heard from Cas?"

"I talked to him earlier, just for a minute though."

"I've been trying to get a hold of him for the better part of the day."

"I think he's busy. He said something to me."

"What?"

Dean looked at his beer before he finished it in one swallow. "It's about Laken."

"About the case?"

"No. He said that she wasn't going to… ya know, make it."

"That doesn't mean that she won't, Dean. Hell, even if she doesn't, death isn't the end, not for us."

Dean shook his head. "And that's suppose to make me feel better?"

"No. Well, I mean, maybe."

"I'm not going to let that happen."

"Neither one of us will."

Dean put his hand on one of Sam's shoulders and squeezed. "Thanks, Sammy."

...

Back at the hotel, Laken had fallen asleep in her bed. The building was quiet, which made it easier for her to let her slayer senses rest as well. However, the ache in the left side of her body woke her, so she decided a yoga session would ease the tension. Forty minutes into the session, Laken was too mediated to hear Dean and Sam as they were coming up the stairs.

Dean stuck his head into her doorway and watched her and she moved so gracefully from position to position in the Sun Salutation. When she was in down dog, Dean couldn't help himself any more. "You, stay just like that."

Laken turned her head to the right and smiled when she saw him. "Hey. I didn't hear you get in." She straightened her back to where she was standing upright.

"I thought you were going to rest."

"I did. I am."

"Doesn't look like it."

She moved her shoulders back. "I was a little sore."

Dean looked worried. "I didn't slayers were suppose to get sore."

"We heal fast, but that doesn't mean we don't have muscles ache now and then."

"You should put some ice on it."

She nodded in agreement. "That sounds good."

"Did the bath help?" Dean asked as he followed Laken down the stairs.

"I thought I'd wait on your for that," she smiled as she turned to look back at him.

"I like the way you think."

Before Dean and Laken reached the bottom of the steps, the front door opened, and Angel and Spike walked in, a young blonde woman behind them.

Laken stopped dead in her tracks when she saw it was Dae, the other slayer. Dae turned around when she felt Laken's presence. "Lay, long time no see."

"What is she doing here?" Laken demanded.

"Can we talk in private?" Angel asked.

Dae dropped her bag on the floor and looked behind Laken. "Who's _that_ sexy piece of ass?" She asked as she walked toward Dean.

Laken's body tensed. "Don't come near me."

"What's going on?" Dean asked, his body tensed as well.

"What's wrong, Lay? Think without your slayer soul or whatever, you couldn't take me? I mean before, we you did have that thing, you barely made it out alive afterall."

"Dae, we talked about this," Angel warned as he walked closer to her.

"Yeah, we don't need a replay," Spike added. "We all remember it well enough."

Sam, hearing the voices, came down the stairs as well. "Well, hello, sasquatch," Dae greeted and then looked at Angel. "I'll take him."

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"I have no idea," Dean admitted.

"You didn't tell your new boytoy about me, Lay? I'm hurt. But hey, no hard feelings, yeah?" She said before she tapped Laken on the shoulder, but the punch was so hard that it would have sent a grown man across the room.

Laken flinched and grabbed her left shoulder.

"Laken?" Dean whispered.

"Oh that hurt? That's no good, Lay. Maybe you should get that slayer soul back after all."

Laken pushed past Dae and walked up to Angel. "Why is she here?"

"Listen, poppet, it's just a precaution."

"I wasn't talking to you, Spike," she said not breaking eye contact with Angel. "I am asking my watcher."

"I made the decision to-"

"To what? Break her out of the mental ward?"

Dae looked at Dean and Sam. "Fuck, people get so upright about slaying vampires."

Laken turned to face the other slayer. "Slaying vampires? You killed a man, Dae! Actually several that I know of!"

She shrugged. "I was in slayer mode. The first once was pale. It was an honest mistake," she said calmly as she sat down on the red couch. "Got any food here? I mean real food, none of the vegan crap."

"Get out!" Connor yelled as soon as he walked through the door and saw Dae.

"Oh, Connor, nice to see you too."

"What is she doing here?" Connor hissed through his teeth.

She walked up to Connor and ran one of her index fingers down his chest. "What is it, lover? Only want to fuck me when I'm wearing Laken's body?"

Connor, not able to hold back his anger punched her in the face. "Get out."

Gunn, who walked in behind Connor, was just as shock to see her as Connor was. "What's going on?"

"That seems to be the question of the day, man," Dean said.

"Don't tell me you went through with it, Angel."

Angel looked at Gunn. "I didn't have much of a choice. Dae may be the only one who can take down the Immortal."

"You mean, if the Immortal rises from hell?" Gunn asked.

"We think he has," Angel said in a low voice.

"Oh, right, because I don't have that pesky slayer soul, so I couldn't possibly defeat him?"

"Sorry, Lay, half a slayer isn't as good as a whole slayer," Dae said.

"I'll show you half a slayer," Laken threatened.

Dae laughed and shifted her eyes to Dean, who was holding onto Laken. "Let her go and I'll show you how a real slayer fights, pretty boy."

Dean looked at Sam. "I was under the impression you were the pretty boy."

"Enough!" Angel yelled. "I did not bring you here, Dae, to make a nuisance of yourself. I brought you here so we can all work together to save the world. Can you do that?"

"I'm game."

"Laken? Connor?"

"Whatever," Connor said.

"Laken?"

"You don't talk to me like that, Angel. And you don't invite a killer into our home, one who has tried to kill me, oh only like a million times!"

"I respected your wish, Laken, about not having Castiel restore your slayer soul. You left me with no other options. You are the slayer, and I am the watcher. You do as I say."

"Since when?" Spike asked, and although he meant for it as a joke, Angel took it seriously.

"Since now."

"She can't stay here."

"Yes, she is."

"Then I'm not."

"That's your choice, Laken."

Laken was taken back by Angel's words. Tears built up in her eyes, for Angel was like a father to her since she was sixteen. "Fine, I'll be out of here in ten minutes."

"Does that mean I get her room?" Dae asked in a mocking tone.

"Angel," Gunn said, his eyes begging him to stop Laken.

"It's fine," Laken said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She looked at Angel, her eyes hurt. "Looks like you got a real winner there."


End file.
